Long Island-based songwriter JayMay is fully aware the wheel won't be reinvented. Little does that stop her from using it to take herself (and the listener) to some interesting and familiar places. Autumn Fallin' is a debut solo album that isn't afraid to tackle lengthy arrangements, bluntly personal lovelorn lyrics, mandolins, waltzes, humor, or tears.

“Gray Or Blue” opens the proceedings, making it abundantly clear early on that this is a “relationship song” record. If you're one of those people who automatically dismiss songs on those merits, then stay very clear. If you've been affected by a relationship had, lost, wanted, regretted, coveted, or by relationships PERIOD...well, then the lyrics offer you quite a good deal!

Simple couplets (“If this isn't love / What is love / If this isn't this love?”) drift effortlessly over loosely strummed acoustic guitar in tracks like “Sycamore Down,” JayMay's voice authoritatively and boldly pronouncing them, unafraid of the sentimentality. Like all good personal songwriting, though, the best stuff is in the details: “I miss the typewriter in your basement / I miss making your room a mess” JayMay (real name, Jamie Seerman) sings on “Sea Green, See Blue.” On “You'd Rather Run,” we get verse upon verse of such details. “The thing about us / You don't dare discuss / We never got along famously / We just tried,” she sings.

Lyrics are only half the appeal to JayMay's work, however. The musical performances are all very strong, and JayMay's voice, both troubled and reassuring, pulls you in right away. Then, there's the quality of the songs themselves. Let's put it this way: the songwriting on this album is so advanced that it's sometimes hard to believe Autumn Fallin' a debut LP. Check out the variety of music, all somehow in the same mellow indie pop vein, which adorns Autumn Fallin'. “Blue Skies” blends a string section, piano, and light drumming with the acoustic guitar-vocal mix, and one begins to see that this is anything but a one dimensional singer-songwriter record.

“Hard To Say” is a perky, slightly jaded piano jingle that very well could've been a pop standard 60 years ago. JayMay's mock “trumpet” solo (sung instead of played) is nearly impossible to listen to without grinning ear to ear. “You Are the Only One I Love” features group vocals which would fit right in on a Polyphonic Spree record, and that's worthy of a smile, too.

Then there's “You'd Rather Run.” Easily the album's best track, the tale of a relationship not-so-great-turned-laughable checks in at just under 10 minutes long. The background music is part waltz, part early electric Dylan, part Bright Eyes. A repetitive organ riff, drums, and guitar are adorned with some additional piano and harmonica work “To get even or mad / So as not to seem sad / Just seems ungrateful / Cause I'm thankful I'm sad.”

The song is an “I'm better off” anthem directed toward a former partner who, despite many potent personal failings, has left some strong impression upon JayMay. By the time the chorus has rolled around for the umpteenth time, you can hear a distinct difference in her vocal delivery. JayMay is healing throughout the course of the song. The listener, should he or she need it, might just find some healing power in the words, as well.

“You'd Rather Run” is, by itself, worth the price of admission. “Ill-Willed Person” and “You Are the Only One I Love” offer more closure and a happy ending for a seemingly deserving young songwriter. These sorts of things are subjective, but, for realzies -- this might just be one of the most honest and memorable singer-songwriter affairs to be put to record in the past few years. If these sorts of things are your bag, do yourself a big favor and pick this up.

5 cheap shots out of 5 for JayMay’s debut.
Stand Out Tracks:
"You'd Rather Run"
"Gray Or Blue"
"Hard To Say"

Check out JayMay on Myspace.